Chapter 17
Jara knocked on Amarasu’s door.
“So?”
“Yes. She’s much better.”
The old woman admitted her to the dark room.
“I brought you some bread, to thank you.” Jara set the basket on the table.
“You need it more than I do, child.”
Jara’s eyes misted. “But I can’t ... pay you. For the medicine.”
“And so you should not. Sit and eat with me. That will be p*****t enough.”
Amarasu broke apart the bread and handed half to Jara, who ate it hungrily.
“Tell me everything,” Amarasu said. “What is she like?”
Jara liked these moments of quiet conversation with the old woman. She could not come to Amarasu too often—Jacol might discover her there and tell their father, and then who knew what he might do?—but the few times Jara had managed to slip away to Amarasu’s house had proven just the
